Latest COVID-19 BI aggregation decision (Pizza Express Group Ltd v Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE)

Article summary

Insurance & Reinsurance analysis: The latest coronavirus (COVID-19) BI judgment to be handed down in the English courts deals with aggregation of losses under the Aon Trio policy wording. The claim was pursued by Pizza Express, whose 475 restaurants were all subject to coronavirus lockdown restrictions in 2020. The question before the court was not one of coverage but whether, if coverage could be established, the relevant £250,000 sublimit in the Policy applied in the aggregate to all Pizza Express’s losses arising from one source or original cause. On the insurers’ case, this limited the value of Pizza Express’s claim to £250,000, while on Pizza Express’s case the insurer would be liable to indemnify Pizza Express in full to the tune of £178m. The court determined that insurers were right to argue that the aggregating provision contained within the definition of ‘Occurrence’ applied to the clauses in question, meaning that Pizza Express’s covered losses under...